The invention is concerned with a telephone answering system which includes a sensing circuit which responds to a ring signal on the telephone line to activate the system. When the system is so activated, a recorded announcement is transmitted over the telephone line to the calling party during a time interval (T.sub.1). A message recording tape is then activated in order that the calling party may record his message during a subsequent time interval (T.sub.2).
Problems have arisen in the prior art systems when the message tape is full or broken. Unless some provision is made, subsequent callers will send their messages over the telephone line, believing them to be recorded on the machine. A simple solution would be to cause the machine to become inoperative after the message tape is full or broken. However, if the machine is equipped with a remote control feature, this would prevent the owner from calling up from a remote telephone and receiving the messages. Accordingly, in the system of the present invention the machine remains operational even after the message tape is full, but it requires a larger number of rings than normal to operate it. This causes the caller to hang up before the machine becomes operational, yet it permits the owner to remote the machine and obtain his messages. The owner may then erase the messages on the mesage tape, and the machine will automatically return to its operational state.